WHAT'S NEW

With a splash of press coverage across the country, Atlanta unveiled its new aquarium in November, and in Charleston, S.C., dust is flying at the convention center complex to build two new retail centers and two museums. Myrtle Beach (S.C.) International Airport is in the midst of a $200 million expansion that, for the first time, will land wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing 747, as well as commuter jets. The Charlotte (N.C.) Regional Visitors Authority came up with $500,000 in new business development funds — $300,000 of which will be used to lure conventions — and reveled in the announcement that the first Ritz-Carlton in North Carolina is slated for Charlotte. As this issue went to press, Atlanta and Charlotte were in a heated race with Richmond, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Daytona, Fla., for the honor of becoming the site of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Museum, a decision that NASCAR authorities were to deliver by December but have postponed until the new year. Contingent on that announcement is a 2 percent hotel tax increase that will go into effect in Charlotte if the city's bid succeeds.

Atlanta's downtown hotel market is seeing its first new construction in several years, which will add about 600 new rooms. Two of the new Atlanta properties are condo/hotels that have appeal for developers, because selling the condo units helps pay for building the hotel.

Starwood plans to build a 250-room W hotel in Atlanta, along with 75 luxury condominiums, at 45 Allen Plaza, that will closely follow construction of nearby Twelve Centennial Hotel and Residences, scheduled to open in February. The latter project includes a tower of 380 condos and 102 hotel suites. Twelve and W are less than a block apart on the north end of Centennial Olympic Park. At the south end of the park, the 110-room Glenn boutique hotel will open in January with a conference center, and a BED restaurant and rooftop lounge.

In the Raleigh, N.C., area, newly approved projects include the 400-room Marriott Convention Center Hotel in downtown Raleigh, the 265-room Westin at the Soleil Center near Crabtree Valley Mall, the 229-room Renaissance Hotel at North Hills, and the 150-room Umstead Hotel in nearby Cary.

FACILITY UPDATES

GEORGIA

• Starwood will build a 26-story, 150-room St. Regis Buckhead luxury hotel with 50 residences. Scheduled to open in the first half of 2008, the hotel will have a spa and a 9,200-square-foot ballroom.

• SpringHill Suites Atlanta Buckhead opened in September with 220 suites that include eating and working space, and 2,600 square feet of flexible function space with four meeting rooms and a meeting and catering staff.

• The Stanbury Hotel in Atlanta's Alpharetta suburb is slated to open in late 2007 as a 144-room boutique hotel with a spa and meeting and banquet facilities.

• The King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort on St. Simons Island has removed virtually all the components of its 62-year-old main building and brought in architects and designers to create 57 new guest rooms. The 187-room resort spans the oceanfront with several buildings and more than 10,000 square feet of function space, including the Lanier ballroom, which can hold 350 for a reception or 280 for a banquet; oceanfront dining rooms; and a historic solarium.

• Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain has broken ground on The Lodge and Spa, a 150-room hotel with a spa and health club that is expected to open next fall.

• At the 760-room Sheraton Atlanta, a new 33,000-square-foot conference center joins a 45,000-square-foot convention center and ballroom to accommodate up to 800 guests.

• The 126-room Mansion on Forsyth Park opened in Savannah in April. The 1888 mansion has a restaurant with eight private dining rooms, a cooking school, a wine cellar and lounge, a spa, and 8,000 square feet of meeting space.

NORTH CAROLINA

• Greensboro will open a 190-room Crowne Plaza Hotel and 13 luxury condos in late 2006 or early 2007.

• Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and Bank of America will develop the Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte at Bank of America's corporate headquarters. The $60 million project, to open in 2008, will include 120 rooms and 30 suites, a restaurant, and a total 13,600 square feet of meeting space. A health club and indoor pool will be on the roof.

• In October, the Homewood Suites by Hilton Asheville opened with 94 studio, one- and two-bedroom suites less than a mile from downtown Asheville.

• The Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club in 2005 added an additional 100 English Country — style rooms to its original 145, a grand ballroom, an executive conference center, and an enclosed pool and fitness center.

• Winston Hotels plans to build a Hilton Garden Inn at the Mayfaire mixed-use project near Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington. Mayfaire is a planned community that will include retail, office, hotel, and residential components. Winston Hotels' most recent construction project was a 147-room Courtyard by Marriott that opened in Chapel Hill in October.

SOUTH CAROLINA

• In August, Avista Resort announced it had added 185 additional suites, making a total of 378 one-, two-, and three-bedroom accommodations at the North Myrtle Beach resort that opened its doors barely a year ago. The resort has convention facilities to accommodate as many as 250 people.

• In October, the HarbourView Inn opened 820 square feet of new meeting space in Charleston.

• The Landmark Resort, on South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, has undergone a $1.2 million upgrade and has 20,000 square feet of meeting space.

• A conference center, Sweetgrass Pavilion, will be available this fall at the Wild Dunes Resort, on the Isle of Palms. The 10,000-square-foot meeting facility will have three rooms.

ASK THE CVB

GEORGIA

Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
(404) 521-6600
www.atlanta.net; Total Hotel Tax: 14%

Brunswick and the Golden Isles CVB
(800) 809-1790, (912) 265-0620
www.bgivb.com; www.jekyllisland.com
Total Hotel Tax: 12%

Savannah Area CVB
(877) 728-2662; Total Hotel Tax: 12%
www.savcvb.com; www.savannah-visit.com

NORTH CAROLINA

Asheville CVB
(800) 257-5583, (828) 258-6102
www.ashevillechamber.org/convention.htm
Total Hotel Tax: 9%

Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority
(800) 722-1994, (704) 334-2282
www.visitcharlotte.org
Total Hotel Tax: 12.5%

Greensboro Area CVB
(800) 344-2282, (336) 274-2282
www.visitgreensboro.com
Total Hotel Tax: 9%

Greenville-Pitt County CVB
(800) 537-5564, (252) 329-4200
www.visitgreenvillenc.com
Total Hotel Tax: 9%

Greater Raleigh CVB
(800) 849-8499, (919) 834-5900
www.visitraleigh.com
Total Hotel Tax: 10% to 12%

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charleston Area CVB
(800) 868-8118, (843) 853-8000
www.charlestoncvb.com
Total Hotel Tax: 12%

Hilton Head Island/Bluffton Visitor & Convention Bureau
(843) 785-3673
www.hiltonheadisland.org
Total Hotel Tax: 10%

Myrtle Beach Area Convention Bureau
(800) 488-8998, (843) 448-1629
www.myrtlebeachmeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 10%

Phantom Planner

• The coastlines of Georgia and the Carolinas are a network of shoals and barrier islands from St. Simons to Cape Hatteras. They offer sunny windswept beaches and unsurpassed golf, but are fragile and vulnerable to hurricanes from midsummer to late fall. This doesn't mean groups shouldn't go, but planners should map out an exit strategy upfront with hotel and travel partners, just in case.

• The “New South” of gleaming office towers and modern hotels and convention centers is in place from Atlanta and Raleigh to Charlotte and Columbia. But the “Old South” of plantation homes, old-fashioned manners, and hanging Spanish moss remains in cities such as Savannah and Charleston.

• In the past year, Atlanta lost two of its biggest conventions, reportedly canceled after an association saw an ACVB e-mail suggesting hoteliers charge more for rooms to recoup the $2 million incentive offered by the ACVB to keep the conventions in Atlanta. The ACVB brought in top-level talent to investigate the matter and took steps to see it won't happen again, but the incident reminds us that negotiations need to be aboveboard.

Special Venues

• Here's a Southern alternative to a beach or golf incentive. This spring, American Orient Express begins taking groups on week-long Antebellum South excursions traveling between Washington, D.C., and Savannah, Ga. Onboard, vintage Pullman accommodations and fine dining combine with history and architectural lectures and commentary. Off-train, visits to Civil War — era plantation homes and sculptured gardens alternate with trips to the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Va.; and tours of Monticello, the CSS H.L. Hunley, Charleston by horse-drawn carriage (left), and Savannah's historic district. (800) 320-4206; www.AmericanOrientExpress.com

• The View is a new loft-style event facility located at Atlanta's King Plow Arts Center in a former 1950s boiler room. With 20-foot ceilings, a contemporary look, and an upper deck for skyline-viewing, the View can host as many as 400 people. (404) 541-9060, www.Theviewatkingplow.com

• The Bar at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead has disappeared and in its place the Gallery emerged on September 1 as a 3,000-square-foot function space for 200 banquet-style or 300 for receptions. (404) 240.7062, www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/atlanta_buckhead

• Drayton Hall's 1742 Georgian-Palladian architecture represents the oldest surviving example of primitive plantations in the American South. On the Ashley River outside of Charleston, the hall survived the Revolutionary and Civil wars intact. The main house, which remains in nearly original condition, and the lawn areas of this National Historic Landmark are available for group tours and events. www.draytonhall.org

The Georgia Aquarium holds eight million gallons of water and more than 100,000 freshwater and saltwater fish and mammals of 500 species. Opened November 23, the 505,000-square-foot building is big enough to include meeting space and a banquet room that can seat 1,100 for dinner or accommodate 10,000 for a reception. (404) 581-4126, www.georgiaaquarium.org